Newsletter

The uninsured plight is personal

When Rosemary Miles at age 62 found herself uninsured and in need of medical care she was able to go to the Community HealthCare Center on Eisenhower to receive the help she needed.

Don't dismiss the uninsured as being unwilling to work.

Or as people you don't know.

The uninsured is the woman who takes care of your child. The man who manicures your lawn. The couple sitting next to you in the pew.

The uninsured is Rosemary Miles, 62, of Savannah, who can't be accused of not pulling herself up by her bootstraps.

She was 38 when her 36-year-old husband died from complications after gall bladder surgery. Their son was 14.

Rosemary went back to school as a widow. After all, as Rosemary, the daughter of Georgia farmers, says, "If you don't have an education, honey, you ain't got no job.''

She raised her son on her own. She prayed hard and worked harder, making $12 an hour in clerical administration. It wasn't much, but it helped her pay off her two-bedroom duplex.

Then Rosemary was laid off at 61. With her job went her health insurance. Over 60 and no job. No ability to afford Cobra, which provides insurance for people between jobs. But plenty of need for health insurance, including diabetes, fibromyalgia and a proclivity for blood clots.

When you're uninsured, you do what you can to get by. You grow used to getting up in the morning and pulling on your "patience britches," as Rosemary calls them, before going to a dreary government office to pick a number and wait to apply for assistance.

You learn quickly that the Social Security check arrives on the second Wednesday of every month. And to bring a good book to the Medicaid office to drown out all the kids who don't listen to their moms.

The 75 percent off rack at Belk has quality finds when Rosemary needs something other than jeans and T-shirt to wear to Mass. And she can't beat lunch for $1 at senior citizen groups.

"For a buck, it's damn good eating,'' said Rosemary.

Despite being such a bargain hunter, Rosemary still faced the looming decision of whether to spend her sparse Social Security income on her pricey prescription meds or her light bill.

She was turned down for Medicare because of age and turned down for Medicaid because she's not disabled, blind or older than 65.

Rosemary looked for another job. But when you're 60-plus and wear a medical alert bracelet, no amount of red hair dye can convince an employer to take a chance on you.

You get used to the line, "We have applicants who are more qualified than you.''

But you eventually find people and places that save you. Places like the Community HealthCare Center, which provides free health care to some of the roughly 70,000 uninsured people in Chatham County.

Rosemary said her life was on the line when she walked into Community HealthCare at 310 Eisenhower Drive and asked, "Do you help people who don't have insurance?'' She was at risk for a blood clot. She needed to have a lab test, but the lab only accepted insurance, even though Rosemary offered to pay the $35 fee.

Turns out, Rosemary qualified for assistance at the clinic. Staff helped Rosemary obtain her meds for free through Partnership for Prescription Assistance. Rosemary is also able to have regular mammograms and Pap smears - preventative steps to save health care costs in the long run. The clinic even put her in a diabetes management class to help her make lifestyle changes to keep her diabetes under control and lower health care costs.

Community HealthCare can help Rosemary until she's old enough to qualify for Medicare.

"They've given me a chance to live four years reasonably medicated,'' Rosemary said.

What isn't as certain is whether Rosemary will be able to afford her meds when she's eventually old enough to join the 43 million Medicare beneficiaries.

On Wednesday, Republicans in the U.S. Senate blocked a proposal that would have eventually helped seniors like Rosemary. Democrats couldn't summon the 60 votes necessary to support legislation to allow Medicare to negotiate lower drug prices for millions of senior citizens, a practice that's illegal now.

The Department of Veterans Affairs can negotiate for lower-priced drugs.

So can HMOs.

So can Wal-Mart.

But Medicare can't.

Instead, private insurance plans negotiate with drug makers over the price of meds for Medicare beneficiaries.

The shot-down proposal aimed for the much more mighty Feds to use their power to bargain for lower costs than individual insurers can get.

Not allowing such haggling by Medicare doesn't make sense to a bargain-hunter like Rosemary.

"A drug company can produce a drug here and sell it to other countries for a fourth of the cost, but charge people here full price,'' said Rosemary.

It doesn't make sense not to allow American seniors to obtain their meds at bargain prices.

So Rosemary won't have to choose between buying prescription drugs and paying the light bill.

Health fair

Uninsured Chatham County residents are invited to a health and informational fair, 12:30 p.m. to 6:30 p.m., Thursday, April 26, at Savannah Technical College's auditorium. The fair is sponsored by the Chatham County Safety Net Planning Council and Step Up Savannah's Poverty Reduction Initiative.